Trying out Python packages with ipython and uvx#

I figured out a really simple pattern for experimenting with new Python packages today:

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uvx --with llm --with sqlite-utils ipython

This command will work if you have uv installed and nothing else. It uses uvx to install and run the excellent ipython Python REPL in a new, dedicated virtual environment with two additional Python libraries - llm and sqlite-utils. You don’t need to install ANY of those packages first - uvx will fetch and cache them the first time you run this, and reuse the cached versions on future invocations.

You can also set which Python version will be used with the --python 3.13 option:

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uvx --python 3.13 --with llm --with sqlite-utils ipython

I turned this into a shell script (with help from Claude):

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#!/bin/sh
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# itry - A portable script for launching ipython with uvx packages
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# Show help if requested
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[ "$1" = "--help" ] && {
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    echo "Usage: itry [packages...]"
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    echo "Example: itry llm sqlite-utils datasette"
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    exit 0
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}
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# Initialize empty string for packages
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PACKAGES=""
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# Process all arguments, adding --with before each
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for arg in "$@"; do
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    PACKAGES="$PACKAGES --with $arg"
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done
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# Remove leading space if present
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PACKAGES="${PACKAGES# }"
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# Execute uvx command with Python 3.13
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exec uvx $PACKAGES --python 3.13 ipython

This is saved as ~/.local/bin/itry - then chmod 755 ~/.local/bin/itry - and now I can jump straight into an interactive ipython REPL with any Python packages I like using this command:

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itry cowsay

Then:

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import cowsay
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cowsay.cow("hello")

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  _____
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| hello |
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  =====
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     \
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      \
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        ^__^
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        (oo)\_______
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        (__)\       )\/\
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            ||----w |
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            ||     ||